Capture the Fantasy: Common Traits Between the Heroines of Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken

Capture The Fantasy this Winter with Entangled TEEN!

Over the next several months, Entangled TEEN has a bunch of brand new fantasy novels releasing on both our print and digital first lines, so we thought that the best way to celebrate these new books was to offer a series of exclusive eBook sales for a short period of time.

From February 15th to February 28th, Through Fire & Sea, the first book in the Otherselves Seriesby Nicole Luiken is on sale for $0.99!

Today, we’re excited to have author Nicole Luiken stop by EntangledTEEN.com to give us some insight about Leah and Holly, the two heroines of Through Fire & Sea and the traits that she – as the author – believe are important for heroines to have.

Two Heroines For the Price of One

My YA fantasy novel, Through Fire & Sea, has two plotlines and thus two heroines, Leah and Holly. Sort of.

The girls are genetically identical “otherselves” of each other, but were born on different worlds under vastly different circumstances. Leah is from Fire World, a world of Volcano Lords, dragons and magic. Holly is from our modern world.

I wanted the girls to be different enough to be interesting, yet still alike enough to be recognizable as different versions of each other. To accomplish this I gave them a number of traits in common.

First, a lively sense of curiosity. As a member of the serving class, Leah has little education. She is intensely curious about her world and its magic. Holly is unable to resist the mystery of Ryan, a boy who saved her life, but wants no credit for it.

Second, they are both compassionate people, willing to put themselves on the line for those they care about. Leah is quite protective of her half-sister Jehannah, even though Jehannah is rude and surly towards her. Holly goes way out of her comfort zone to help lift Ryan out of poverty.

Thirdly, both girls have father issues. Holly’s dad is a famous Hollywood director. He lives far away and is somewhat neglectful of Holly, first promising to attend her play, then reneging. Leah’s father, Duke Ruben, makes Holly’s father look like Best Dad of the Year. Leah is desperate to earn the Duke’s approval (and a better life for herself). After ignoring her for years, Duke Ruben forces Leah to impersonate her sister and spy on his enemy.

Fourthly, both girls have magical talent. They are Callers, with the ability to use mirrors to interact with their otherselves on the Mirror Worlds.

The first three give the girls motivation to take action and the fourth one gives them a way to do so effectively. Because my favorite heroines are the ones that both choose to act and are competent.

Check out this short, swoony teaser from Nicole Luiken’s Through Fire & Sea:

Leah touched the cord he always wore around his neck and followed it down until his shirt got in the way. Carefully, she undid the first button. For a second Gideon stopped breathing. But then his hand seized hers and held her palm over his heart. She could feel it beating—faster, stronger—for her.

About Through Fire & Sea (Otherselves, #1):

Mirror mirror, hear my call…

In the Fire world, seventeen-year-old Leah is the illegitimate daughter of one of the realm’s most powerful lords. She’s hot-blooded—able to communicate with the tempestuous volcano gods that either bless a civilization or destroy it. But then Leah discovers she’s a Caller, gifted with the unique—and dangerous—ability to “call” her Otherselves in mirror worlds. And her father will do anything to use her powers for his own purposes.

In the Water world, Holly nearly drowns when she sees—and interacts with—Leah, a mirror image of herself. She’s rescued by Ryan, a boy from school with a secret he’d die to protect. Little do they know, his Otherself is the son of a powerful volcano god at war in the Fire world…and he’s about to fall.

As Leah and Holly’s lives intersect, the Fire and Water worlds descend into darkness. The only way to protect the mirror worlds is to break every rule they’ve ever known. If they don’t, the evil seeping through the mirrors will destroy everything—and everyone—they love…